Sharp, atmospheric, and an overall stunningly strange book.

During a hotter-than-usual summer in the eighteenth century, a small town becomes obsessed with a rumor of five mischievous sisters magically turning into dogs. They’ll stop at nothing to prove the devil is at work to destroy the village through them.

This story includes themes of expectations of girls and women, delusion, entitlement and the danger of herd mentality. I really enjoyed the undertones - funny how we’re still facing these issues in present day (love it here).

I loved the hot and sticky yet somehow kind of gothic vibes. It was a quick and easy read! I wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out, I didn’t have any feelings towards them. I was hoping for a bit more with the ending as well, but it was good overall.

Not nearly as out there, but kind of reminded me of Lapvona and Lost in the Garden vibes wise. Also such a treat to read during the last weeks of summer!

Rounded up from a 3.5! Thank you Netgalley and Holt for the digital ARC :)

I knew going in to The Hounding that it was being compared to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, but the comparison does no favors to Purvis's book. The Hounding lacks the depth, interconnection, and narrative propulsion of The Crucible; these are the aspects that make the allegorical play a classic. Purvis has created a book with a similar theme and historical setting, yet it has a smooth narrative sheen divided among multiple points of view, as if scrolling seventeenth-century Instagram. This novel has its enthusiastic audience, but I turned out not to be among them.

Taking place in 18th-century England, off the River Thames, is the quiet village of Little Nettlebed, life five sisters, ages 6 to 19, live with their widowed grandfather and always travel together in pairs, threes, or all five. The girls are quiet and keep to themselves, but soon, odd things begin happening in the village. An unnatural drought has dried up a lot of the river, villagers find a weird fish, chickens and other animals are found slaughtered, and barking is heard. And one day, someone says they saw one of the girls turning into....a dog.

This story is told from the perspectives of five of the villagers, as they and the rest of the village try to make sense of the misfortunes, while also trying to pin the events on someone. It's a weird but still striking and eerie story, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's, The Lottery. At first, I couldn't believe that the townsfolk actually thought the sisters were turning into dogs and terrorizing the village (I mean, come on), but it goes to show the power of a patriarchy and the lengths people can go through to demonize girls and women. This gender-based hysteria is the main plot throughout the entire book, and it gives it a very heavy feeling. The sisters do not go with society and are then considered aberrant and strange (in a supernatural sense), which then leads to social condemnation and threats of violence.

The writing in this book was particularly nice; it is easy to read and clear, even though it is set so long ago. It is quite convincing. At one point, I started to buy into the idea that maybe the girls were actually turning into dogs. There is a feeling of unease and dread that just grows as the story continues. That goes to show readers how well this book is written and how convincing the argument is at times.

The ending was not what I expected, and honestly, a bit of a letdown. I expected more, but it just kind of fizzled out. Overall, it is worth the read for the atmosphere and tension building, much akin to a dark fairy tale. I really enjoyed watching the villagers' minds change slowly. While maybe the ending didn't do it justice for me, I still enjoyed reading it.

The Hounding starts slow but grew on me, along with a sense of dread and unease that felt gripping despite its predictability. The story, about five sisters living in an 18th century English village who may or may not be turning into dogs, follows the familiar beats of any tale about gender-based hysteria: a woman's aberrant behavior (being too scared or not scared enough, being pretty, being ugly, being), is judged a sign of supernatural ability, and social condemnation and threatened violence ensues. What separates The Hounding from other versions of this story is that Purvis invite us into the heads of the villagers rather than aligning us fully with the accused girls or putting us at a third-person distance. Every perspective we inhabit--that of the drunken and gossiping ferryman, of the young man in love with the oldest sister, of the woman who pours ale at the village pub--reveals a vision of the sisters that serves more as a mirror than a portrait. Their violence and devotion, their fear of and for the girls, feels profoundly relevant despite the centuries that separate our moment from theirs.

Loved this. Well written and easy to digest. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe from dread. This story reads like horror but there is no real horror involved unless you count the rumor spreading villagers. I am looking forward to reading more from this author. Someone get this book in the hands of the Philippou brothers.

In a rural village outside of London in the 18th century, five girls ranging in ages from six to nineteen live with their widowed grandfather. They keep to themselves, always traveling in pairs or threes or all five together.

Odd things are happening. A dry summer means the river is shrinking, endangering the livelihood of the town and especially its ferryman. A weird fish washes ashore. Chickens are found slaughtered. Can the odd things be blamed on the odd girls?

This novel has a lot of atmosphere. A slow burn as the village tries to make sense of its misfortunes. Told from the perspectives of five of the villagers, there's building tension and the mood is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. It's eerie.

My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the Advance Reader Copy. (pub. date 8/5/2025)

A really interesting concept but I did not end up reading very far. I think this one will have a great following but it wasn't one to hold my attention.

I know The Hounding has been out for a little bit now, but by waiting it was almost perfect timing to add a little tidbit here to my review. I belong to a book club, the Fantastic Strangelings book club through Nowhere Bookshop (which and this is my own opinion - if you like the idea of a book club but have trouble sticking to finishing a book by a certain date, is a great option because everything is online). The owner of the bookstore (another author Jenny Lawson), picked The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis for one of her monthly book club picks, which was awesome to see something that I'd had the opportunity to preview out in the wild.

Throughout this year, I've really been on a gothic horror type book kick. This book definitely scratched that itch. I think the feel of gothic horror lets us as readers digest and process our own feelings on awful and strange things, without them happening to us. I've noted a lot more people on my feeds reading horror novels lately, and it's an interesting trend to see with what's going on in the world today.

The book really brought the reader in to experience what rural small village life is like, but on steroids. The atmosphere created by the author really lended itself to what was going on with the girls. The author 's writing style was really concise and accessible, and the book itself was really well written. There are elements of suspense, and I definitely had to keep going well past my bed time in a few spots. I'd really recommend the book as we are moving into spooky season! I do recommend reading it with someone else or with a book club, because there is so much to unpack in my opinion.

Please be advised that I received an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a fun read! It was one I kept coming back to night after night until finished. The setting felt sleepy and void of excitement, but the interconnectedness between all of the characters and the ways in which those connections played out in the end felt well-rounded.

In one small eighteenth century rural England village, things are getting tense. The Mansfield sisters have always been outsiders: orphaned for most of their lives, raised by their lenient, near blind, well-off grandfather, distant from the rest of town. And then the rumors start. Drunken ferryman Pete Darling, who hates the girls with a passion, claims he has seen the oldest turn into a dog. This snapshot of a small town struck by a panic and alight with rumors has so many perspectives. The sisters, a little untamed and wild. Their grandfather, who just wishes to see them grow happy. The hired laborer Thomas, freaked out about this whole thing but falling for the oldest daughter, Anne. Pete, the furious, misogynist who starts this. Temperance, the steady wife of the local publican. And Robin Wildgoose, a young man trying to find where he fits (and doesn't fit, or want to fit) among the local men.
This book is tense and the perfect length. There is no fat to be trimmed, there is just the burning summer ready to start on fire. It is weird and gothic and beautifully written. It has so much to say about womanhood, and manhood, small town rumor mills and the dangers of difference. This is the kind I want to reread to keep digging deeper. It's excellent.

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis was a compelling read about the elusive and haunting nature of superstition and how it’s used to perpetuate misogynistic rumors.

The five sisters who live their lives slightly outside of the norms of this small historical town, parented and loved by their blind grandfather. As rumors swell that the girls can morph into dogs and are in league with the devil, the horrifically misogynistic ferry operator leans closer to violence, and madness ensues.

The damage lies within the hatred of the ferry operator, but the true love that the sisters have for their grandfather is the prevailing power.

The atmosphere of this book was enchanting, and the characters easy to imagine. Despite how short the novella was I still felt that it came full circle. It was vivid and enthralling. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys literary historical novels with a twist of thrill and dash of magic.

It’s eighteenth-century England. The town of Little Nettlebed is superstitious .The river is drying up, a strange creature has washed up on the bank, and the Mansfield sisters might be turning into dogs. What makes the town think te girls have thisbility — to turn into dogs? It is told from the perspectives of five people. The town’s hysteria continues as their frustration grows. They start looking for the girls to place their anger. At this time, there is the belief that that “women who don’t know their place.” But the unknowable power of the girls and how it challenge their beliefs, they find themselves afraid.

I was drawn to this parable of how dangerous being different, and female, can be. I was riveted and enraged by this surreal novel that eerily captures our current time. It is a powerful and bewitching novel to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this title, and to LibroFM for a free e-ALC, in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book intriguing, just not quite intriguing enough. It was satisfactorily mysterious, but I didn't feel any connection to the characters or their fates.

It was impeccably written however, and the audiobook narrator did an incredible job with the pacing and such. I loved the style of the writing!

This story was hauntingly lovely. It felt like if Jane Austen wrote The Virgin Suicides (whole town obsessed with a group of girls who are always together and different) as a folktale. It’s very different than anything out right now which is great. I wanted to smack Pete over the head with his stupid oar. It’s relatable even today, that witch hunt story led by one awful man against women and men who are different, seemingly ahead of their time. Robin and Thomas were important characters too - ones who stand up for the right thing against the mob. FYI - there is a scene where drunk men in the bar kill a badger pretty disturbingly but it is meant to be seen that way. Highly recommend this weird little fable.

This was such an interesting book that looks into small towns and how rumors spread. At its core is a group of sisters who live on their grandfather's farm and only really seem to interact with each other. A rumor starts around the town that they're turning into dogs and attacking people. A very interesting concept (and super unique - who would've thought of this??) that I found very well-executed! The prose is intriguing and almost feels like an older book, not modern, which fits into the setting quite nicely. At times, I felt as though there were a few too many characters to try to keep track of and some of them weren't differentiated enough from the others, but that's probably my only piece of criticism.

My kind of weird! The atmosphere of the society and the book itself was so well done that it felt steeped in ominous, eerie intrigue. I wish there had been a little more to the story to fully flesh out a few points but overall, I really enjoyed my time.

The Houndling is an eerie, beautifully unsettling debut that lingers like a half-remembered nightmare. Part gothic folktale, part social commentary, it evokes both the creeping paranoia of The Crucible and the aching melancholy of The Virgin Suicides.

Told through multiple perspectives, the novel builds a chorus of voices—gossipy, fearful, judgmental, and fascinated—that circle around the Mansfield sisters and the rumors that cling to them. This shifting narration blurs truth and superstition, forcing the reader to confront the dangers of perception, rumor, and otherness. The effect is mesmerizing and deeply immersive, drawing you into the claustrophobic, suspicious world of Little Nettlebed.

The atmosphere is rich with strangeness: omens in nature, uncanny sounds at night, and the slow bleed of hysteria through the village. The pacing is deliberate, even languid at times, but it works in service of the creeping dread that builds until the devastating climax. The sisters themselves—enigmatic, defiant, and vulnerable—serve as haunting figures at the center of the tale, more myth than flesh by the time the story closes.

Both a chilling historical novel and a strikingly modern allegory about fear of difference, The Houndling is as thought-provoking as it is haunting. A remarkable debut that promises much more to come.

My rating- 3/5

Xenobe Purvis delivers an ominous little tale with The Hounding. With a palpable sense of foreboding, this story explores the lives of a strange set of five sisters, and how they are perceived within their small eighteenth-century village. Let's get into it.

Characters- This is a story in which I can feel myself wanting to fall in love with it's characters, and yet, I feel as if the author is keeping me at an arm's length away from them. I think that this disconnect from the characters comes down to two things- the novels length, and the number of characters in which we are introduced. At just over 200 pages, there isn't an excessive amount of time for the reader to become familiar with the characters, and this is only amplified by the large cast of characters that the author introduces us to. I don't feel that I got a proper sense of who each of the sister's were as individuals, let alone anyone outside of the Manfied family. I enjoyed the characterization we were given, and like I said before, I wanted to fall for each of these cast members completely, I just ran out of time. 2.5/5

Atmosphere- This is where this story truly shines in my eyes. You can feel the unease building with each scene, and this really brings the story to life. This, along with the climbing temperature within Little Nettlebed, makes it hard for the reader to want to put the story down. It's also what has stuck with me the most since I've finished this book (and likely why I will return to it in the future). The atmosphere that Purvis delivers is a 4.5/5 for me.

Pacing- Throughout the story, I felt that the pacing was fairly solid. However, as I mentioned before, I just felt that this story was a little too short, which in turn makes the ending feel a bit rushed. I don't mind that the author left much of the ending up to the reader's interpretation, I can certainly appreciate that, I just felt that the story would have been well served with another 50-100 pages to flush a few things out. 3/5

All said, I did enjoy this story, and I think its one that may grow on me over time. It's quite possible that the next time I pick it up I will connect with it on the level that I wanted to, perhaps this just wasn't the right timing for me to read it. There is certainly a lot of promise within this story and I think most readers will enjoy it, especially those who like The Virgin Suicides and similar character-based books.

Wow! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely not my last! This book will leave you wanting for more and the characters and storyline stick with you long after you finish it. Do yourself a favor and pick up this page-turner!

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis (book cover is in image), sitting between the realms of historical fiction and magical realism, immerses the reader in the towns obsession with the Mansfield Girls.
This story is set in a town called Little Nettlebed, where strange things are happening, rumors fly about the Mansfield Girls being suspected witches, blaming them for the unusual events.

Because the narration by Olivia Vinall is well, and I had the opportunity to read the book and listen to the audiobook, I found myself going back to the audio often. While I am not a fan of a slow burn, the slow deliberate pace of the book worked extremely well for me. For those that are fans of The Crucible, this book will be for you.

Thank you, @macmillan.audio, @henryholtbooks, and @netgalley for the opportunity to listen to the ALC and read the book. All opinions are my own.

Pub Date: Aug 05 2025
Rating: 4 Stars

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